New Delhi, May 22: The Indian embassy's camp office in Nepal Biratnagar, about 380 kilometres from Kathmandu which provided relief to flood-affected people situated near Koshi river bed will be closed down, and the personnel will be relocated, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to Nepal conveyed the same to Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who in return thanked him for informing about the decision.

According to the MEA, the Biratnagar camp office was opened in the year 2008 to deal with floods after the embankment along the Koshi river in Bihar, broke and inundated the region. "Now the purpose for which the camp office was set up is claimed to be fulfilled. Therefore the government of India has decided to close the camp and relocate the personnel," said Raveesh Kumar the MEA's official spokesperson.

In 2008, Nepal allowed India to set up a temporary field office to issue passes for vehicles to ply on Indian roads in the nearby regions after a 17 km stretch of the East-West highway damaged due to Koshi floods. Also, in April, a bomb stuffed inside a pressure cooker had exploded at the camp office. Fortunately, no one was present in the camp when the incident occurred. Luckily, only the western wall of the office  was damaged during the blast.

The temporary camp office  was initially set up in Sunsari. Later it was shifted to Biratnagar. Currently, the camp is located at Malaya Road on the Koshi Highway.

(With inputs from ANI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2018 01:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).